ZEE
NETWORK LAUNCHES ZEE NEWS; AUTHORITIES CRACK DOWN ON SHARE
The Zee Network last week re-launched the
ailing Z India TV as Zee News. The channel has been positioned
as a 24-hour news and current affairs channel with news
bulletins every half-hour. The network is using the same
news bureaus that had been set up earlier for Z India TV
during its confused days as an infotainment channel. It
had, at that time, run up huge losses as it simply lacked
focus. The management of the channel was later brought under
Zee Network managing director Vijay Jindal, who has since
been moulding it back into shape.
Zee Network sources say that the channel is going to evolve
over time into one that will give Indian viewers an insight
into news as it happens. Zee News was, however, lagging
far behind Star News on updates of events during the day,
in the second week of its launch. Star News, it appeared
was a lot more on the ball.
News and current affairs channels like Zee News and Star
News are not permitted to uplink live from India and have
to take recourse to the facilities of the government-designated
Indian uplinker, the state-owned VSNL. Hence the coverage
they can offer to viewers is restricted. The government
is slated to allow such channels to uplink live before the
end of this year.
Meanwhile, the Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL) share touched a new
high of Rs 1,625 early last week on the back of speculative
buying from select groups on the Bombay stock exchange (BSE).
It fell as the week progressed to end the week at Rs 1,400-odd
over the weekend. A BSE senior official last week wrote
to the brokers on the exchange that they should exercise
caution while trading in the scrip on account of the high
volatility in its price.
The ZTL share is being closely monitored by the stock market
regulator, the Securities Exchange Board of India, following
a broker's complaint to the Bombay High Court that the management
was indulging in price rigging. The broker has filed a public
interest litigation in the High Court and has asked the
court to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (the
government investigating agency) to conduct a thorough investigation
into the ZTL share. He has also pleaded with the court not
to allow any trade settlement in the share until the investigation
is completed. The court has ordered Sebi and the BSE to
file an affidavit by June on why the broker's pleas should
not be heard.
